


I Woke Up One Morning In November (And Realized I Loved You)

by thebarrios_best



Series: Bughead [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Archie and Jug aren't besties, Bad archie, Betty and Jug are instead, Betty can be a little obtuse sometimes, Breakup, Bughead are hopelessly in love, Cheating, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jason never died, Jug is in love with Betty, Jug needs to stop thinking everyone is better off without him, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant, Pining, Polly and Jason had to break up, She just doesn't know it yet, Toni and Betty are friends, Toni never like Jug, and yes, anyway, au where Polly didn't have her baby, barchie but toxic, because that plotline was stupid and Coopaz should be best buddies, broody Jug, bughead - Freeform, bughead childhood best friends au, but we still don't like Hal, dun dun dun, endgame bughead, even though we love the real Archie, go listen to them now, high school seniors, iconic ponytail-wearing Betty, initial Betty Cooper/Archie Andrews, like in a familial way, like just FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY, loosely based on a separate novel I'm writing, lopaz, nobody knows why, nobody's a serial killer, okay i'm done now, she's in love with him too, she's still in high school, struggles with mother-daughter/sister-sister relationships, the title is from a Phish song, they frustrate me, they're more of their S1 selves, we don't stan incest in this house, we'll see how that goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 21:25:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18081170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebarrios_best/pseuds/thebarrios_best
Summary: Doe-eyed, Princeton-bound Betty Cooper has been best friends with viciously witty, beanie-wearing Southside loner Jughead Jones for as long as she can remember. And Jughead has been hopelessly in love with Betty for as long as /he/ can remember (not that he'd ever tell her). But when Betty starts dating Archie Andrews, her long-time crush and captain of the football team, she and Jughead start to drift apart. Archie doesn't want Betty spending so much time with him anymore --or anyone, really -- and Jug figures it's best to slip out of the picture. Everything has an end, right? (Even if he could really use some support with what's going on at home.)For Betty, everything is perfect: early admission applications sent in to all the Ivy Leagues, perfect grades, perfect boyfriend, perfect friends to spend her senior year with. But when something that happened to Polly over the summer comes back to haunt her and Betty finds Archie cheating on her, her whole world falls apart. It takes a few steps outside of the small shelter of Riverdale and a whole lot of Jughead Jones to help Betty realize that, maybe, she built the wrong world to begin with.





	I Woke Up One Morning In November (And Realized I Loved You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Toni returns from her motorbike trip, Pop is a sweetheart, and Betty doesn't know what to write.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO THERE! So! This is my first real fic,, and I'm pretty excited about it !! Apologies in advance - this is LITERALLY the shortest and w e i r d e s t chapter ever, but I procrastinated writing/posting this forever so it's going to be deleted in an hour if I don't post something. Oops. Not sure how I feel about it so far,, but I honestly love the universe (Coopaz as besties?? Sign me UP) and I can't wait to write my babies interacting. As mentioned in the tags, this is based on an actual novel I'm writing (I promise it's much better than this so far lmao) so I'll see how I do that oof. Anyway- I hope this goes well! Even if people don't read it I'll hopefully have fun writing it hdjfkdksks aaaaand I'm rambling! So! Enjoy the strangest and shortest chapter ever!! See you at the end!

_Ding!_

The red-trimmed door to Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe swung open, its cheerfully jingling bell prompting a few early-morning customers and the friendly man behind the counter to look up and wave at the pink-cheeked girl who’d stepped inside. With a grin, Betty Cooper waved back, blonde ponytail swinging behind her as she hurried to bid the owner a good morning. The diner’s cool air-conditioned interior was a relief from the lingering summer heat outside; it seemed there were still a few more sunburned poolside ice cream cone weekends to be had this year. Betty wasn't sure whether to be grateful or fed up.

It was Saturday, and the 9 A.M. September sunshine shone brightly through the diner’s red-trimmed windows as Betty approached the counter. It had been a while since she’d last done it, but this weekend Betty was determined to fulfill her tradition of spending her Saturday mornings in Pop’s: ordering a milkshake, maybe chatting with Pop about a good book she’d read, and hunkering down in her favorite booth to study. Only this time, instead of homework, Betty had college application essays to fill out.

Even the thought of all the work the college admission process was shaping up to be made her exhausted; but Betty had decided she wasn’t going to be exhausted today. No, she would save her fatigue for later, when everyone else had gone and she could curl up in her room alone with a mystery. For now, she would be her usual bubbly, sunny self, glimmering smile and otherwise shiny exterior brightening rooms and warding off worriers. This was her plan, because Betty knew that if she wanted to finish her early applications, she needed to push her stress away and buckle down and do them; and what better place to start than Pop Tate’s?

“Hey there, Betty!” The man in question interrupted her thoughts, always wonderfully reminiscent of Betty’s childhood in his classic uniform, cap accenting his white hair and kindly, crinkled eyes smiling up at her. She smiled back.

“Hi, Pop. How are you?”

“Oh, good, you know. Diner life keeps me busy!” She laughed and he tilted his head at her. “Haven’t seen you in here for a while. You maybe thinking of starting coming back on Saturdays?”

The old man sounded so hopeful, Betty didn’t feel like telling him she was usually busy on Saturday morning. She was usually busy all the time, actually, but she definitely wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Um, yeah, I think so. Today, at least, definitely. Schoolwork just gets ahead of me!” She grinned awkwardly and he nodded.

“Well, it’s awfully nice to see you, Betty. Let me guess -- strawberry milkshake? Your booth is open, as always.”

“You too, Pop. And of course.” She started to reach into her backpack for a few dollars but he interrupted her.

“Hey, don’t worry. It’s on the house.” Betty grinned thankfully and he patted her on the arm. “Now hurry off and enjoy your morning before someone else takes your booth!”

She shook her head, laughing, and thanked him before slipping to the back of the diner to settle in the window seat of her favorite booth. The smooth red leather of the classic seat was cool against her sunburned legs, and oh so wonderfully familiar. Betty often found herself revelling in Riverdale’s familiarity recently. College couldn’t come soon enough, and yet it seemed to come too soon; she was both impossibly excited to leave home, get out of this tiny town she’d lived in forever, and also found she rather desperately didn’t want to go. It wasn’t so much about Riverdale, per se. It was more about leaving home, leaving Polly and her mom all alone in that big empty house, watching Toni and Ronnie and Kev go off to their own colleges. She could visit, maybe, but when she came back it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be her home in quite the same way anymore, because of course she would now be an adult, expected to find a new life for herself outside of her childhood. People always used to tell her being a kid would go by too soon, but she’d never really believed them until now. Now, she understood.

And then, of course, there was Jug. Jughead Jones, her raven-haired, beanie-wearing best friend of seventeen years, who, somehow, she hadn’t actually seen for a few weeks. Betty hadn’t let herself think too hard about him recently, only because she was so _busy_ , and somehow Jughead didn’t seem to fit into her schedule anymore. _That sounds awful, Betty,_ she thought. _He’s not a chore to be ticked off a to-do list._ In fact, she missed him rather a lot lately, but he never seemed to be in Pop’s or at the drive-in or in the treehouse or, well, anywhere. And he never showed up at lunch anymore, no matter how often she peeked around the cafeteria hopefully. It was almost like… but no, of course not. He was her best friend, after all, wasn’t he? Even if they had less time to hang out nowadays. Wasn’t everyone busy? And Betty really did want to see him; who knew how intermittent their contact would be when senior year was over? It was just that whenever she tried to make plans, Archie somehow always…

Archie. That was right. He’d probably be wondering where she was. Had she forgotten to tell him she was spending the morning here? She hoped not. He was always wondering where she was, and -- oh. Oh, god, could she have forgotten Archie while thinking of things she’d miss in college?! Of course not. Of course she hadn’t! She’d miss him terribly, of course she would. She was just preoccupied, that was all. Archie was always somewhere in her mind.

As if on cue, her phone buzzed in her back pocket and Betty, startled, took her face out of her hands and looked around. Right. With a sigh, she pulled her laptop out of her backpack and, setting it on the table, reached into her pocket for her phone. As expected, her screen was lit up with a text from none other than Riverdale’s famous Archie Andrews himself.

_How’s ur morning babe? Wanna get coffee sometime later_

_**I’m pretty busy with college apps and everything, so maybe coffee tomorrow. My morning’s been good though, you?** _

_Good. Better since ur here._

**_Awwww you’re too sweet Arch_ **

Here Betty added a sparkling heart, but resisted the urge to type those three certain words, words that would have, should have, fit perfectly into that sentence. But they didn’t seem to have gotten there yet, and she was saving them for something more special. Saying them for the first time over text just didn’t feel right. She was, however, determined to tell him how she felt before September was over.

**_How did I get so lucky?_ **

There was nothing for a while and Betty suddenly felt that familiar panic begin to rise in her chest. That was okay, right? It wasn’t too much? Three texts in a row was probably overboard. She felt like smacking herself over the head. _Stupid, stupid, stupid_.

After what seemed like an eternity, those three little power-holding dots appeared and the panic clenched uncomfortably in her chest.

_Nah, I’m the lucky one_

Betty let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding and grinned. What a silly thing to worry about. Of course he wouldn’t think it was overboard! They'd been dating for almost five months, after all.

_Hope ur writing goes well, txt me later I wanna talk n maybe make some plans 4 tomorrow_

**_Okay talk later <3_ **

He followed suit with a kissy face emoji and Betty slipped her phone back in her pocket, smiling. Then, with chagrin, she turned back to her laptop and slid it open resignedly.

She already had the precious doc open; the top was titled NYU Application Essay, and beneath it -- nothing. A blank slate. An empty page with which to begin her new life.

Betty stared at it and felt, well… nothing.

Words should have been pouring out of her at this point, out of her and right onto the screen, into the minds of admissions teams all over the country who’d read them and think, _oh, yes, here she is, here’s the girl,_ except… Betty couldn’t think of anything. She blinked, and then blinked again. _Damnit_. And this, it appeared, was why she was terrified of starting to write, because, well… what if she couldn’t? What if, maybe, she wasn’t the girl? Could her mother handle that? Could everyone else handle that? And could she handle their reactions?

The truthful answer was probably not, and so Betty opened a new tab and searched for _inspiring college essay prompts_ , all determined mind and swift fingers. Desperate times called for desperate measures, which was how she ended up spending two hours researching the history of journalism in families and the effects of sudden single parenthood on one’s children and didn’t even notice Pop had put her milkshake down in front of her until she’d downed the whole thing, and someone stood above her, laughing quietly, pink hair tickling Betty’s face. She felt her heart lift and whipped around in her seat.

“Let me guess: you drank that all without even noticing,” said Toni Topaz, standing before her in all her knotted flannel, unlaced combat boot, torn fishnet glory, back at long last from her endlessly long summer motorbike trip across the state and back again. The sun had tanned even more her already coffee-colored skin, and her smirking lips were tinted pale purple.

“Toni!” Betty cried, jumping up to hug her friend. Toni rolled her eyes and hugged her back, grinning.

“Well hello to you too, Little Miss Bookworm.”

“Shut up. How was your trip?”

“Oh, you know, good. Great, actually. You’re the last one to know I’m back. Now I know why.” Betty squeezed her tighter. “Hey! You’re choking me! And studying on our last Saturday of the summer. I don’t know which is worse.” Betty let her go with a sigh and Toni peered over onto the blank doc. “Or maybe not. What is that?”

“NYU Application,” Betty mumbled as Toni slipped into the seat across from her.

“Aha.”

“I have literally no inspiration. I’m going to fail.”

Toni rolled her eyes again and pulled the straw out of the empty milkshake to lick it. “Of course you’re not going to fail, Betts. You’re a fucking genius. The schools are going to be fighting over you.”

Betty smiled half-heartedly. “I mean, thanks, but… that’s kind of just the problem. Well. I guess I’ll think of something eventually.” She sighed and then laughed as she watched Toni lick the straw. “That’s very seductive, by the way, T. I’m thinking I should call Ronnie, she’d love it.”

Her friend blushed and flicked the straw at Betty, who giggled and threw her hands up for protection. “Way to prove my point!”

Toni shook her head, but Betty could see her smiling.

“Come on, Toni! You know she’s into you, you’re _obviously_ into her--”

“Hey, it isn’t obvious!”

“--and I happen to know she hasn’t done anything with anyone since you’ve been gone which means she spent a whole month missing you! Now’s the perfect opportunity to follow up on whatever happened after Cheryl’s party!”

Toni opened her mouth and then narrowed her eyes.

“How did you know something happened after Cheryl’s party?”

Betty laughed. “You two are my best friends. You think Ronnie didn’t drop a million hints? I saw your flannel in her room, T, and even besides the gajillion hickeys, you were being so obvious the next day. Kev and I were laughing so hard.”

Toni blushed again.

“Just ask her out!”

“Why don’t you just leave me alone?”

“Okay, okay!” Betty yielded. “But you know refusing to admit it only makes it more obvious.”

“Shut _up_.” Toni poked her with the straw.

“Hey! Ow!” The blonde girl protested. “So, how was your trip? I want to know everything.”

Toni grinned and Betty barely had time to appreciate the easy, carefree mood instantly set off by her best friend’s blunt but loving demeanor before she was caught up in a story about motorbike-swallowing mud pools and strange deserted bars and was quickly forgetting all about her college essays. This was what she loved about her friends, about Riverdale: it was so inherently home. Betty walked down the street, into a store, into the library, and everyone knew her, had known her forever; all her stories, memories were theirs too, what her hair had looked like the first time she tried to cut it herself and that time she fell down three flights of stairs and broke her arm. She knew exactly how to shake the old candy machine at the drive-in so it would drop shiny strawberry chews into your hands without putting in a quarter, she’d been the first to try many of Pop’s summer milkshake specials and encourage him to keep them on the menu, she could point out all the best spots in the old swimming hole for jumping off the old rope she’d helped string up in second grade. Yes, it meant she was stuck with the same image she’d unknowingly built the moment people met her, and sometimes it could be a little suffocating, but it was what she knew. She just wasn’t certain she was ready to be someplace so wholly unfamiliar.

“So, how’s this month been for you? Anything new gone down in the town with pep?” Toni asked as she finished a story about a very devoted cactus wren who’d followed behind her motorcycle for days.

Betty rolled her eyes at the ridiculous old slogan. “Well, kind of. I think Kevin’s got a new flame,” she whispered cheekily, and Toni wiggled her eyebrows and gasped exaggeratedly.

“Oh, really? At last! Are we sure he’s over Joaquin? I mean, I was starting to think that was eternal.”

Betty laughed. Joaquin was Kevin’s ex: long hair, rough jawline, kind heart, fascinatingly real Serpent tattoo, and, of course, some inexplicable reason for hopping town on a train last November and leaving Kevin utterly heartbroken. Kev had dated a couple guys this past year, even including a short fling with football jock Moose Mason, who up until then everyone had thought was straight. But nothing ever seemed to last long or go anywhere, so Betty had practically squealed with delight when Kevin had told her.

“I know, right? But, no, yeah, I think this is serious.”

“Ooooooh!”

“Yup! And you’ll never guess who.”

Toni widened her eyes. “Who?”

“ _Fangs_ , of all people.”

“You mean, like, _Serpent_ Fangs? Like, my _neighbor_ , Fangs?”

“The one and only. How many people named Fangs do you think live in Riverdale?”

Toni poked her. “Really, though. I guess Kev has a type.”

“Let’s see. Tall, dark, handsome… dangerous… into snakes...”

“Oh, shut up. Fangs’ just a big softie. And don’t make fun of the Serpents or I might have to bite you.”

Betty waggled her finger in response. “Oh, you _wouldn’t_.”

“Maybe I would! You don’t know what I’d do. I have _connections_.”

Betty snorted and Toni grinned.

“I missed you, Princess.”

“I missed you too, T.”

The two girls smiled at each other as Pop suddenly appeared with a chocolate and refill strawberry milkshake in either hand.

“Hope you girls are enjoying your Saturday! Nice to see you home, Toni.”

“Thanks, Pop,” the pink-haired girl smiled back at him.

“Thought you two looked thirsty. On the house.”

Betty opened her mouth to protest but Pop simply put the shakes down and walked away, smiling.

“Gosh, that man is too nice for his own good. I’ll just make sure to put a twenty in the tip jar later.”

“And you, Betty, also have a habit of being too nice for your own good,” Toni added with a cocked eyebrow as she took a sip from her milkshake.

“I do not!”

“Or, well, nice isn’t the problem, really. Should I say… forgiving? Is there a verb for putting others first to the extent you never put yourself first in, like, any situation ever?”

And there it was: her greatest flaw, or as some people saw it, her greatest attribute, the one that made her such a flawlessly polite people person, which, regardless, had been drilled into her from the moment she took her first breath. Betty bit her lip and felt her fingernails find her palms beneath the booth.

“I think the word you’re looking for is self-sacrificing,” she said quietly. Toni put down her straw at her tone and immediately felt bad.

“Sorry, B. I didn’t mean to ruin the mood. I was just--” Toni reached out for her arm. “Sorry. That wasn’t supposed to be a criticism, or anything. I just meant…” She shook her head. “You know what, never mind. What were we talking about before, again?”

Betty let her fists unclench under the table and squeezed her eyes shut once, tightly, allowing her mind to push the thoughts of _perfect selfless forgiving gentle kind perfect girl next door_ as deep down as they could go and wander to something happier. Something she could let herself think about in broad daylight on a Saturday at Pop’s, with her best friend right in front of her. This was no time to feel sorry for herself. She had things to do.

“I believe,” she managed a grin, toying with her peppermint-striped straw, “we were discussing you and _Veronica_.”

Toni blushed furiously again and Betty felt her mind clear. Oh, she could tease, and it would be fun.

“Do we have to talk about this?”

“We do, yes, because it is very important to me that my best friends be happy and to be quite frank, we’re all tired of this endless dancing around one another.”

Toni looked exasperated. “We? Who’s we?”

“Oh, you know, me, Kevin, Sweet Pea, the entire school--”

“You keep making it out like everyone knows and really I think that’s a major exaggeration.”

“Aha! So you admit it! Come on, T. It’s so obvious, you two are the only ones who haven’t noticed you’re gone for each other.”

Toni scoffed and raised her eyebrows. “You could teach me a thing or two about not noticing you’re hopelessly in love.”

Betty froze mid-sip and let the straw fall from her lips.

“Huh?”

Toni’s eyes sparkled.

“You can tease me about Ronnie all you want, but she and Kev and I and everyone else have been teasing you forever. Talk about the last to know.”

Betty looked at her as though she’d sprouted horns.

“What on _earth_ are you talking about, Toni Topaz?”

Her friend laughed and slurped the last sip of her milkshake with gusto. “Hate to break it to you,” she said between gulps, “but you’ve been about as clueless as Reggie Mantle in the tampon aisle since, like, first grade. You and, well.”

“ _What?!_ ”

Toni only shrugged. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m not gonna break it to you now.”

Betty spluttered. “I’m-- this is-- I’m not at all clueless about my feelings for Archie, or haven’t you noticed I’m dating someone?” Toni’s eyes seemed to sadden a little but her smirk stayed. “And besides, we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about _you_ , and how if you don’t ask Ronnie out before school starts, I’m never speaking to you again.”

Toni licked the straw one last time and cocked one eyebrow defiantly. “Fine. I will.”

“Yes!” Betty nearly leaped out of her seat.

“But!” Toni held up a finger.

“Only on the condition you ask Jughead to hang out.”

There was a silence in which Betty’s mind worked to find the connection in all this nonsense before she finally asked, utterly bewildered,

“ _What_? What’s Jug got to do with anything?”

Toni pulled her cherry from its stem and popped it into her mouth before reaching for the leather jacket on the seat next to her. “You know he’ll find his way to Kev’s tomorrow for his big pool bash or whatever. All the food will lure him in. So find him, drag him away, and cuddle up in your old treehouse and watch Tarantino or whatever it is you two do.”

Betty furrowed her brow. “We don’t-- I-- that's-”

Toni grinned and stood up.

“Bye, Princess! See you at Kev’s!”

“Why are we talking about Jughead?”

“Only you wouldn’t know!”

Betty called after her as she turned around, laughing. “What? Toni! What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her friend just waved and sauntered away.

“You know I’m dating Archie?”

“I know, Betty. I know.”

The door closed with another _ding_! And Betty stared, incredulous, after it. What on _earth_? She stirred the remnants of her milkshake with the straw and closed her eyes. She really did love her friend, but sometimes, she was just plain confusing. Betty’s mind tugged at the edge of an idea; but she couldn’t let herself go there. She had other things to worry about, including, most importantly, her abandoned college essays, and of course, her ever-present, ever-doting boyfriend.

Betty was just reaching for her laptop when, as if on cue, the diner door swung open again with gusto and in walked Riverdale’s very own shining star: ginger hair perfectly coiffed, letterman jacket slung over one shoulder, glittering grin cocked just so, tall, suave, compelling, oh-so-handsome All-American Archie Andrews.

And, of course, as he leaned on the doorframe with one elbow as though for all the world it were where he was meant to be, his eyes swept the room once and fell right on her.

“Betty!”

 _Damnit_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COOPAZ CRUMBS LOVE THAT FOR US  
> (Also I feel like I just threw so much out there?? Like just SO much? What is even happening? I don't know?? Please don't be scared off I promise I'll improve HDJKSKSSSLLS)  
> (Also,, it's kinda heckin hard to write a Riverdale universe that doesn't involve a core Archie/Betty friendship,, and is an au that doesn't involve anything that happened in the series but still has Toni/the other Southsiders as characters. So. That's fun!!)  
> (Also if you're wondering where Hal went (which you probably aren't because you probably didn't even notice that small detail about sudden single motherhood in the ridiculous info dump that was this chapter) you'll find out soon (SPOILER ALERT: I HATE HIM ENOUGH THAT I CUT HIM OUT OF THE PICTURE BUT HE ISN'T DEAD YOU'RE WELCOME))  
> Okay! Sooo that's that! Stay tuned for more as soon as I can get something together !!


End file.
